A new study from the American Lung Association in California pinpoints the benefits in lives and dollars saved by adopting tough vehicle emission and technology standards, which the California Air Resources Board is now drafting, working closely with the feds to set a stringent national standard.

According to the new report, The Road to Clean Air, California could avoid at least $7.2 billion per year in health and other societal costs and reduce all major air pollution-related health impacts – from asthma attacks, premature deaths and hospitalizations to lost work and school days – by 70% percent if the California fleet of vehicles is converted to the next generation of cleaner, more efficient vehicles by 2025. Greater benefits can be achieved by further accelerating introduction of zero and near-zero emission technologies, like battery electric, plug-in and fuel cell vehicles.

According to the new report, strong state 'Advanced Clean Car' standards beginning in 2017, including smog and particle pollution controls, greenhouse gas emission standards, and an aggressive zero emission vehicle requirement will annually avoid the following illnesses and deaths when fully implemented across the fleet:

'Ninety percent of Californians live in areas with unhealthy air according to the American Lung Association State of the Air report,' said Jane Warner, President and CEO of the American Lung Association in California. 'Pollution from passenger cars and trucks is largely responsible for our dirty air and its huge health toll. Our new study reveals the benefits in lives and dollars saved by adopting tough vehicle emission and technology standards.'

The state currently is drafting the Advanced Clean Car standards, which update and link several existing programs aimed at reducing pollution from vehicles, including the Low-Emission Vehicle program, the Zero-Emission Vehicle program and the greenhouse gas emission reduction program (often called Pavley standards), and plans to release a draft this Fall. All three standards are critical to reduce the level of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions that new passenger vehicles sold in California will generate through model year 2025.

'There are few needs as urgent as making sure that the air we breathe in California isn't making us sick and contributing to escalating health care costs,' says David T. Cooke, M.D., member of the Lung Association Board and Assistant Professor of Thoracic Surgery at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. 'California has an opportunity to dramatically reduce the human toll of cars by adopting strong Clean Car standards and accelerating the introduction of zero emission vehicles in the next round of rulemaking.'

The Road to Clean Air finds that under current standards (which apply to passenger vehicles through model year 2016), vehicles on the road in 2025 will generate over 270 tons per day of smog forming pollutants and cause $14.5 billion per year in health and societal costs, including $5 billion per year in public health costs and thousands of cases of illness. Converting the fleet to cleaner, more efficient vehicles would avoid as much as 190 tons per day, or over 70 percent, of these smog forming emissions. Considering that California still has a long way to go in achieving smog levels low enough to meet federal clean air standards, adopting the strongest possible clean car regulations is critical.

On an individual basis, the American Lung Association in California report finds that an average car under current standards will cause more than $4,700 in health, environmental and societal damage over its lifetime – the equivalent to $1.19 in damage per gallon of gasoline, or about $20 per fill-up.

In order to reduce vehicle impacts on human health, the American Lung Association in California finds that the California Air Resources Board must adopt strong Advanced Clean Car Standards for the passenger vehicle fleet for 2017-2025 that will include the following requirements for new cars:

Achieve a 75 percent reduction in smog-forming emissions and place stringent controls on particle pollution from vehicles
Achieve, at minimum, an overall 45 percent (6 percent per year) reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles
Achieve a new car fleet mix that includes at least 20 percent zero emission vehicles

'Vehicles meeting California's current clean car standards greatly reduce pollutant emissions in California and nationally, but more can be done to clean up our fleet. This report shows that California, by requiring a new generation of clean, efficient vehicles beginning in 2017, can significantly improve the health of children, seniors, and people who live in polluted communities,' says Robert Sawyer, Ph.D., member of the Lung Association Board and past Chairman of the California Air Resources Board.

Data and Methodology:
The American Lung Association in California commissioned a study to compare the emissions, public health and greenhouse gas benefits that will result from current vehicle emission standards (LEV II for smog-forming emissions and Pavley I for greenhouse gas emissions) to the benefits that can be achieved from the next generation of vehicle standards (LEV III, Pavley II), including strong zero emission vehicle (ZEV) requirements being considered this year. Vehicle emission reductions result from decreases in tailpipe, onboard and upstream emissions.

The American Lung Association in California contracted TIAX, LLC, a nonpartisan engineering consulting firm, to conduct a technical analysis comparing the benefits of moving from existing standards to possible future vehicle standards. This report incorporates the criteria standards into the fleet mixes, calculating the health benefits that result from the mix of tailpipe standards and alternative technologies. For each component of this study, TIAX relied on numerous state and federal regulatory documents, technical models and input from the Lung Association.

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Environmental Valuation & Cost Benefit News covers legal, academic, and regulatory developments pertaining to the valuation of environmental amenities and disamenities, such as clean air, trees, parks, congestion, and noise. We apprise the reader about ways in which costs and benefits are measured, and the results of empirical studies. We hope that this information will allow public and private organizations to comprehend the risks and benefits of various actions, help disputants to resolve conflicts equitably and efficiently, and improve the quality of public policies.

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